The Evangelical Lutheran church came to the decision last week during a church body meeting, where they also decided that they would make revisions to their handbook to include gender-neutral language.

Moving forward when referencing the higher power, the church clergy will be asked to use "God," instead of "Lord," or "He/Him/His," pronouns. The decision has been met with some backlash and criticism from church members who disagreed.

"It really isn't smart if the Church of Sweden becomes known as a church that does not respect the common theology heritage," Christer Pahlmblad, an associate theology professor at Sweden's Lund University, told the Kristeligt Dagblad newspaper, in Denmark.